Page 59 of 6 Clues Your Nemesis Loves You

“What about you, Mags?” Dana focuses on her eldest daughter. “How’s work? I was worried after the last festival.”

“Fantastic,” she says quickly, her placid veneer sliding into place.

The move is so abrupt that I squint at her. Maggie’s been surprisingly relaxed since my football-gear stunt, sharing smiles with me and joking with her family. Now she’s sitting ramrod straight, her hands clasped neatly on her lap.

“The zombie thing was just blip,” she says, overly bright. “And the team’s great. We’re working on a seniors event I’m organizing, busing men and women from different retirement homes to Windfall. We have a full day planned for them. Gallery tours. Lunch at the cidery. A trip to the agriculture museum, with plenty of time to peruse the shops and spend money in the town.”

“That’s my girl.” Jason beams at her, then nods at me. “Maggie always has an angle. Creates amazing events while finding ways to boost the town’s economy.”

“She’s as clever as they come,” I confirm, watching the interaction with interest. I know for a fact that Maggie’s zombie apocalypse event wasn’t a blip. She’s worried about her job. Yet she’s sitting here, lying to her family without batting an eye.

“If only I could live up to my sister’s high standards,” Emma laments in dramatic fashion. More good-natured teasing. “Goody-Two-Shoes never steps a foot out of line,” she mock whispers to me. “I have to do the extra-hard work of pissing off our folks on my own.”

We laugh at the joke, but Maggie’s smile is strangely thin.

“Keep calling your sister names,” Dana says, “and Lennon might not come back for dinner.”

I wink at Emma. “I encourage the name-calling.” Maggie groans, finally relaxing. Her parents laugh, and I can’t help the nostalgia that settles over me. “This has been really nice—being part of a normal family dinner. It’s been, well…” I stare at my empty plate a beat. “It’s been a while.”

“You’re welcome anytime,” Dana says gently. “Just pop on by.”

“The more, the merrier,” Jason adds.

Their kindness means more than they know, but it’s Maggie who draws my full attention. She’s staring at me intently, a whirlwind in her eyes, like she’s both happy and sad at once. I want to ask her what’s wrong. I want to know why she was worried about bringing me here and why she lied to her family about her job. I want a lot from Maggie, as per usual, but I settle on being happy she invited me tonight.

I’m about to offer to help clean up, when she abruptly stands. “Is it okay if I take Lennon for a walk on the property?”

“Of course. You two have fun.” Dana gives us a knowing look I’d love to run with.

Yes, I’ll be defiling your daughter if she lets me.

Judging by Maggie’s still-intense expression, I’m not sure fun is on the table.

Hugs and more birthday wishes later, Maggie and I are bundled in our coats, strolling down the path behind their house. It’s just wide enough for us to walk side by side, but we’re not holding hands like I want. Our arms brush occasionally, the chilly air almost cool enough to turn our breath into mist.

She slows her pace. “Tell me about your father.”

Right. That fiasco, which I haven’t yet aired out loud. I tuck my hands into my pockets and kick at the ground as I walk. “He didn’t care about meeting me. He just wanted to give me banking information so we could have his book money. A way for him to feel less guilty, I think.”

She stops, looking livid. “Did he apologize to you?”

“Sort of. I mean, yeah—he said the words, but it was like he was following a checklist: if I say this thing like I’m supposed to, I will be absolved. He didn’t ask once about me or my brothers. Just wanted to get what he did off his chest, which, by the way, is shit. He cheated on my mother, and she’s now reading about it in his tell-all. As per usual, it’s all a fucking mess.”

I grit my teeth and count to five, attempting not to punch a tree.

Maggie takes my clenched hand and weaves our fingers together. “Will you accept the money?”

“No way. It took me eleven years to touch the principal from my WITSEC school money, which I’m only using now because I want to grow my business and am short on choices. And this cash is worse. He earned that by blasting our pain into the world without our consent.” I shake my head angrily. “If my family wants their share, that’s up to them.”

“Don’t you think it’s your due? You might need more for your business, or you could use the money to buy your first home. Grow something good out of his deception.”

“And know the house I’m living in has his dirty fingerprints all over it? Thanks, but no thanks.”

Maggie nods, running her thumb over my knuckles. “I hope you at least tore him a new asshole.”

I shrug, staying quiet, and thread our fingers more firmly together. Her cool skin is a balm to my rising temperature.

She sighs. “You didn’t tell him off, did you?”